Board 8 > Going to Argentina for a few weeks soon.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Tips and stories welcome, will have my own as well.

Primarily going to be in Buenos Aires. Might have some extra trips but sticking to the country, so no Uruguay ferry and no travel to Brazil or Paraguay.

Already know Western Union is my friend.
Also know to avoid Rosario fully already. Easy to do.
Will have some milonga recommendations from tango people I know so that should be well covered too.

and with home account too.
it's nice that the better parts of BA have washing machines inside. so that'll ease up the travel items.

AirBnB prices meanwhile are 20-30/night for some very nice spots.

First tip is don't go alone.
Second is don't trust anyone with money exchange outside of banks and the like. That even means cabbies or merchants making change. Counterfeit money is rampant. Have small bills.
Third is that if something falls on you from above, don't accept any help cleaning up. You might get cleaned out.
Fourth is don't trust anyone asking for help, especially if they claim to be a stranded tourist.
Fifth, and this should be obvious, be wary of women in drinking establishments. Don't take a drink offered, don't let your eyes off your drink. This is the biggest reason tip number one is don't go alone.

yeah, only money exchange happening is at a western union and i'm going with a girl so fifth won't be a problem. even if i wasn't, that's about the worst place to find a woman in a country wanting money.

didn't think about 3rd or 4th but yeah, i ain't trusting shit. also have no intention of going to La Boca in BA, that area's way too rampant with thieves.

I've never been, but the prevailing bit of "fun" advice I've always seen is to eat lots and lots of beef. Argentina apparently has more cows than people and price of high quality steak dinners is supposed to be among the best values in the world.

oh i'm eating beef daily, no ifs and or buts.

I'll just throw it out there.

The chinchilla is an Argentinian delicacy. If you have no qualms with it, seek it out, as it is something you won't really find elsewhere in the world.

edit - for something less offensive, Argentina is known for some of the best Malbec wine in the world, and has some gorgeous wine country.

Wanglicious posted...

yeah, only money exchange happening is at a western union and i'm going with a girl so fifth won't be a problem. even if i wasn't, that's about the worst place to find a woman in a country wanting money.

didn't think about 3rd or 4th but yeah, i ain't trusting shit. also have no intention of going to La Boca in BA, that area's way too rampant with thieves.

Make sure you get small and/or a mix of bills, WU will want to pay out in the biggest bills, because that's what is easy for them. The bigger the bill, the more chance you don't get your proper change back. The more chance you get a fake bill. Don't just say that Western union will have your back, because they won't. You have to manage your money, full stop.

Glad you're going with a female companion. You can watch each other's backs and obvi you two will together have the instincts to avoid a lot of situations.

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Argentina

Everything you may need to know can be found here. Some of the information is heavily opinionated, but not any more than what you'd see by asking people here. I love wikivoyage in general, gives you good starting points.

Do go to the south if you can. It's a bit of a trip, but well worth it. Nature in Argentina is beautiful. If you are a hiker, this is your personal paradise (as it was for me).

Happy to make more specific recommendations depending on what kind of traveler you are and the length of your stay.

Don't do any Cape Hornyposting while you're there.

Aecioo posted...

I'll just throw it out there.

The chinchilla is an Argentinian delicacy. If you have no qualms with it, seek it out, as it is something you won't really find elsewhere in the world.

edit - for something less offensive, Argentina is known for some of the best Malbec wine in the world, and has some gorgeous wine country.

sure, i'll try it. thanks for the extra food tip and the specific general wine. it's not exactly wine season in mendoza but that's a consideration.

Omniscientless posted...

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Argentina

Everything you may need to know can be found here. Some of the information is heavily opinionated, but not any more than what you'd see by asking people here. I love wikivoyage in general, gives you good starting points.

Do go to the south if you can. It's a bit of a trip, but well worth it. Nature in Argentina is beautiful. If you are a hiker, this is your personal paradise (as it was for me).

pretty extensive wiki, thanks. the south though i think we'll avoid; it's only 2 weeks and Argentina's huge. i do tango so BA is obligatory with a decent amount but i don't need to go to that many milonga. Iguazu Falls is the main pitstop for a few days and there's a ??? on a second (not doing Uruguay because we're keeping it cheaper) but the south looks like it'd be a lengthy trip and probably already getting too cold for the parts that would be really cool, pun intended.

ChichiriMuyo posted...

Make sure you get small and/or a mix of bills, WU will want to pay out in the biggest bills, because that's what is easy for them. The bigger the bill, the more chance you don't get your proper change back. The more chance you get a fake bill. Don't just say that Western union will have your back, because they won't. You have to manage your money, full stop.

yeah, the fortunate part of the WU here is that it'll be in one of the richer parts of BA and it's off a friend's recommendation who was just there last month and they know her well. will get smaller bills for sure though, i don't just want things in 1000 because there's a lot of things that i'm sure i'll want 200 and 500 for.

flight's tomorrow.

Safe travels!

Arrived safely

Please tell us about the beef, including restaurant prices. I'm being sincere - that's definitely one of the reasons I'd ever choose to visit Argentina, and I'm not even *that* big of a steak guy.

Also, have fun!

Beef is interesting.
Yeah it's high quality and soft but, at least in Buenos Aires, they don't spice or salt it much if at all. Multiple known and quality restaurants, same issue every time. My understanding is that other regions will change this but for the main city, you probably need to salt it to your liking.

Restaurant pricing, or pricing in general, I'll do with estimates of 1 USD = 1000 Pesos. in the biggest tourist trap, it was 15-20 USD. More local, 10-12.

Okay so

Puerto Iguaz, and the waterfalls in general? Lovely sight. I don't go crazy about that but it's pretty, even if the water is brown. Nice views, good to see, however...

fuck mosquitoes

I cannot say that enough. Those bloodsucking demons need to go extinct. It's 90 and humid and those bastards are in heaven eating all the humans. Brazilian side's best point? You're so close to the falls that you don't get remotely as many. That's the one major upside there. Did like their side for some pics and being right up close to the falls, though Argentina has a far superior experience and views overall. It's also crippled right now as the best trail is currently closed but should be open in July. We'll see.

But I'm now convinced that if hell exists, it's just full of mosquitoes everywhere.

Ah mosquitoes, annoying little buggers. If you haven't, try applying bug spray/repellent.

Also send my regards to Eva Person, Evita is one of my favorite musicals.

Oh we did. They still got like 8 bites a leg, even with spray. Clearly I'm not well versed in how this works but it's something so obnoxious even locals are like wtf, this is way more than we get normally.

Got my flight back then should be back in NYC where my main concern are roaches and mice, both way easier to murder en mass.

settling down, a couple things come up.

first, the price of leather goods. they're cheap, of good quality, and can be found in the street markets which occur regularly. San Telmo on Sundays, Boca daily, Recoleta Saturdays, there's more i missed. high quality bags or belts will also be there, prices will vary from shop to shop and even more if you're being tourist taxed (see: no price listed and they come up with it on a whim that's very out the ordinary). bear in mind i still didn't bother with things like leather jackets or shoes because frankly i don't have any reason to get a leather jacket and i have more than enough shoes here. wallets and belts though? very useful and nice stuff to find.

second, i already mentioned the pro and con to the beef but i should go more in depth: if you order meat in a restaurant just go for the best cuts. steak and egg is a common one you'll find in the more overpriced section and is never worth it. hell, eggs are priced similar to here in the US, same for all fruits and veggies. that part's surprising really, a lot of basic groceries were not cheaper but similarly priced, maybe within a dollar. restaurants meanwhile are priced way, way cheaper and meat in particular will be a better value there. there's some exceptions, i did go to one of the high ends and had an absolutely fantastic shrimp sandwich but this was a good $100 USD for 2 dinner, with a couple drinks involved. over here i could see that be double the price and that's roughly what the high end essentially is - half price for similar quality as you'll get in the US (didn't do the 2 star michillin place but that's also how they price themselves, 0.50 - 0.75% US equivalent). for more standard places, mentioned it already but can easily be found for $40-50 for a meal for 2, drink included. do bear in mind however that the more authentic it is, in Buenos Aires anyway, the less salt and spice you'll find. even their milaneses which are prided on, breaded meats, will lack in flavor. some exceptions will exist, high quality sandwich shops in particular will be better at it, but note that difference. pork meanwhile, much easier to have in those standards. choripan is just chorizo and bread and you'll be good, common enough street food to find for $2-3 USD. more than that, you're being tourist taxed. also empanadas are great, at a consistently good price, where the price range is $0.60 - 1.20 USD. those actually will have spices and things inside to add to flavor, so i don't really get why the restaurants are the way they are. oh, burgers are a great one too - don't need to do much to that kind of meat, it's extremely tender, and great cheeses exist over there too so they end up being a great bang for buck every time. highly recommend burgers.

do however, mind terminology. bife de chorizo = only beef, it's a strip steak/New York strip. steak scallop = no actual scallops, just steak. i don't understand how the second exists but it does and it's disappointing. did also try other country foods there to see how they compare, Japanese is meh, Chinese is meh, Venezuelan is good, Colombian is good. Pizza there usually sucks but i did find a spot which was actually genuinely amazing and it was at a great price, in an area within Boca.